Cotton Mather at the Congregational Library: An Annotated Bibliography
Cotton Mather (1663-1728) has been described as the first American to embrace the Enlightenment, and his legacy is an important key to uncovering much about early America and the nation that follows. But he has often been caricatured or forgotten, becoming one of the most misunderstood and fascinating figures in American history. Sourcing Mather's own writings, current scholars are challenging past assumptions and changing perceptions of Mather and his stature. To mark the 350th anniversary of Mather's birth the Congregational Library and Archives presented a 2013 symposium, "Mather Redux: New Perspectives on Cotton Mather", where eminent historians painted a revised and relevant portrait of the much maligned preacher and his time. The revival of interest in Mather and his legacy motivated us to survey our own and others’ collections to provide a resource for historians and scholars.
With the generous support of the Carnegie-Whitney Foundation and the H.W. Wilson Foundation, we have created an annotated bibliography of all books and manuscripts related to Cotton Mather in the Congregational Library & Archives collection. This bibliography contains a recently discovered genealogical chart of the Mather family. (Of note: A Servant of the Lord, Not Ashamed of His Lord. A Short Essay to Fortify the Minds of All Persons, Especially of Young Persons, against the Discouragements of Piety, Offered in the Derisions of the Impions [sic]. Made, in a Sermon to a Society of Young Persons, Meeting for the Exercises of Religion, on the Lords-Day Evening. Boston, 1704 is the only known copy according to the English Short Title Catalogue.) The accompanying webliography includes more recent materials from additional websites and other repositories.
By Cotton Mather
Manuscripts (digitized)
Diary, 1716. | |
Entries dating from Feb. 1715/1716 to Dec. 1716. | |
Directions for a Son Going to the Colledge, c. 1718-1719. | |
Advice by Cotton Mather to his son Samuel (1706-1785), who entered Harvard College in 1719. Transcribed by Samuel Mather. | |
List of Marriages, 1717. | |
A single-page document listing the marriages Cotton Mather performed in 1717. |
A chronology of Cotton Mather's works printed during his lifetime
1680s | 1690s | 1700s | 1710s | 1720s |
Alphabetical List of Mather's Works Printed After His Death
"An Account of the Sufferings of Margaret Rule". Letters. More Wonders of the Invisible World: Or, The Wonders of the Invisible World, Displayed in Five Parts : to Which is Added, a Postscript Relating to a Book Entitled, "The Life of Sir William Phips". By Robert Calef. Salem, 1796. | |
Works by Cotton Mather, including correspondence, are included in Calef's reply to Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World. | |
"An Account of the Sufferings of Margaret Rule". Letters. More Wonders of the Invisible World, or The wonders of the Invisible World Displayed. To Which is Added a Postscript Relating to a Book Entitled, "The Life of Sir William Phips". By Robert Calef. Salem, 1823. | |
The Angel of Bethesda. Ed. Gordon W. Jones. Barre, MA: Amer. Antiquarian Soc., 1972. | |
Published from the manuscript of the American Antiquarian Society. | |
Chapter 5 was earlier published under the same title (New London [CT], 1722). | |
Mather explains many illnesses in a spiritual context. | |
Biblia Americana : America's First Bible Commentary: a Synoptic Commentary on the Old and New Testaments. Ed. Reiner Smolinski. Tubingen, Ger.: Siebeck; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2010- | |
Scholarly edition of the oldest comprehensive commentary on the Bible composed in North America. | |
The unpublished manuscript of 4500 pages is held by the Massachusetts Historical Society. | |
Bonifacius: an Essay upon the Good. Ed. David Levin. John Harvard Library. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard UP, 1966. | |
Follows the original text of 1710, which included the Appendix on Indian Christianity and the Advertisement for Biblia Americana. | |
Preface. Bridgwater's Monitor. A Sermon Preached to a New Assembly of Christians at Bridgewater; on 14 d. VI. m. 1717. A Day of Prayer Kept by Them, at Their Entering into the New Edifice, Erected for the Worship of God among Them. By James Keith, Pastor of the Church in Bridgwater. 2nd ed. Boston, 1768. | |
"With a Preface of Dr. Increase Mather, and Dr. Cotton Mather." Preface by Cotton Mather. | |
Originally printed with an additional sermon: Boston, 1717. | |
The Comfortable Chambers, Opened and Visited, upon the Departure of that Aged and Faithful Servant of God, Mr. Peter Thatcher [i.e. Thacher], the Never-to-be-Forgotten Pastor of Milton. Who Made His Flight Thither, on December 17. 1727. Boston, 1796. | |
Mather's last sermon. Originally printed: Boston, 1728. | |
Corderius Americanus. A Discourse on the Good Education of Children, &c. &c. Delivered at the Funeral of Ezekiel Cheever, Principal of the Latin School in Boston, Who Died, August, 1708, in the Ninety-Fourth Year of His Age. With an Elegy and an Epitaph. Boston, 1828. | |
Originally published: Boston, 1708. | |
Includes Latin poems by Cheever and a facsimile of one of his manuscripts. | |
Cotton Mather's Verse in English. Ed. Denise D. Knight. Newark [DE]: U of Delaware P, 1989. | |
Mather's poetic works are divided into six categories: religious meditations, elegies and epitaphs, verse for children, agricultural verse, hymns, and Bible verse. | |
Days of Humiliation: Times of Affliction and Disaster: Nine Sermons for Restoring Favor with an Angry God, 1696-1727. Ed. George Harrison Orians. Gainesville, FL: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1970. | |
Orians' introduction provides historical and doctrinal background for these sermons delivered in very difficult times. | |
Diary of Cotton Mather. Ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford. American Classics. New York: Ungar, 1957. | |
Originally printed, 1911-1912. | |
Brings together twenty-six diaries at three different libraries: Massachusetts Historical Society, American Antiquarian Society, and the Congregational Library. Vol. 1 (1681-1709); vol. 2 (1709-1724). | |
Includes a folded facsim. map, "Town of Boston in New England" by Capt. John Bonnor. | |
The Diary of Cotton Mather, D.D., F.R.S. for the Year 1712. Ed. William R. Manierre. Charlottesville: U P of Virginia, 1964. | |
The diary for 1712 was believed lost until 1919, when it was purchased for the William Gwinn Mather collection. For that reason, it was not included in the Worthington Chauncey Ford edition. | |
The Discipline Practised in the Churches of New England: Containing I. A Platform of Church Discipline. II. The Principles Owned, and the Endeavours Used, by the Churches of New England, Concerning the Church-State of Their Posterity. III. Heads of Agreement, Assented to by the United Ministers, Formerly Called Presbyterian and Congregational. Ed. Nathaniel Higgins. Whitchurch, Salop [Eng.], 1823. | |
Reprint of portions of Book V of Magnalia Christi Americana. | |
Dr. Cotton Mather's Student and Preacher, or, Directions for a Candidate of the Ministry : wherein, I. A Right Foundation is Laid for His Future Improvement; II. Rules Are Offered for Such a Management of His Academical and Preparatory Studies, and, upon That, for Such; III. A Conduct after His Appearance in the World, as May Render Him a Skilful and Useful Minister of the Gospel : to Which is Added, A Literal Translation of Dr. Cotton Mather's Famous Latin Preface, with an Abridgment of Mr. Ryland's Preface to His Edition. London, 1789. | |
The first edition was published under title: Manuductio ad Ministerium… Boston, 1726. | |
Translation of "Dr. Cotton Mather's famous Latin preface" is by Hugh Walford. | |
The Congregational Library copy was formerly owned by the noted historian of Congregationalism, Henry M. Dexter. | |
The Duties of Parents to Their Children. Ed. Robert E. Davis. Millers Falls, MA: Petra, 1997. | |
"[Mather] recognizes the child's primary need of true, converting grace and urges parents to do all in their power to lead a child to Christ" —Back cover. | |
Early Piety: Exemplified in the Life and Death of Mr. Nathaniel [sic] Mather. [5th ed.] Boston: Congregational Board of Publication, 1857. | |
Nathanael was Cotton Mather's younger brother. | |
Elegy by the Reverend Cotton Mather on the Death of the Reverend Nathaniel Collins. Ed. Holdridge Ozro Collins. Los Angeles: Bumgardt, 1909. | |
An elegy for Mather's very close friend. | |
Originally published: Boston, 1685. | |
An Essay upon the Good That Is to Be Devised and Designed by Those Who Desire to Answer the Great End of Life, and to Do Good while They Live. Boston, 1845. | |
Reprint of Bonifacius, 1710. | |
"Among the multitude of books which have emanated from the New England press, we know of none which, for vigor of thought, comprehensiveness of views, and depth of piety, deserves a higher place than this." —Advertisement. | |
Essays to Do Good; Addressed to All Christians, Whether in Public or Private Capacities. Ed. George Burder. New ed. Boston, 1808. | |
First published under the title: Bonifacius. | |
"Improved by George Burder, from the latest London edition." | |
Essays to Do Good: Addressed to All Christians, Whether in Public or Private Capacities. Ed. George Burder. New ed. New York, 1815. | |
First published under the title: Bonifacius. | |
"Improved by George Burder, from the latest Boston and London editions." | |
Essays to Do Good, Addressed to All Christians, Whether in Public or Private Capacities. Ed. George Burder. New ed. Portsmouth [NH], 1824. | |
First published under the title: Bonifacius. | |
Essays to Do Good. Ed. Andrew Thomson. Select Christian Authors 24. Glasgow, 1825. | |
First published under the title: Bonifacius. | |
With an introductory essay. | |
Illustrated with a steel engraving entitled, "Go and teach all nations." | |
Essays to Do Good; Addressed to all Christians, Whether in Public or Private Capacities. New York, [c. 1838] | |
First published under the title: Bonifacius. | |
Burder's edition, abridged. | |
Published by the Amercian Tract Society. | |
A Faithful Man Described and Rewarded. A Sermon Preached at Malden, June 24, 1705, Occasioned by the Death of that Faithful and Aged Servant of God, Mr. Michael Wigglesworth. Boston, 1849. | |
There is a misleading author statement on the title page: "By Increase Mather". The funeral sermon, however, was preached by Cotton Mather and the Dedication is by Increase Mather. | |
Digital copy in Hathi Trust Digital Library. | |
"An History of the War with the Indians in New-England." The History of King Philip's War. By Increase Mather. Ed. Samuel G. Drake. Boston, 1862. | |
Increase Mather's "Brief History of King Philip's War" with Cotton Mather's history of the same war, originally printed in Book 7 of the Magnalia Christi Americana, are here reprinted together. Drake has added supplementary material, a genealogical chart of the Mather family, and engraved portraits of the two authors. | |
The Life of Mr. Thomas Dudley, Several times Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts. Ed. Charles Deane. Cambridge [MA], 1870. | |
"One hundred copies reprinted from Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society." | |
Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana contains an abridged version of this work. | |
Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England from Its First Planting in the Year 1620, Unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. In Seven Books. 1st American ed. Hartford [CT], 1820. | |
Originally published: London, 1702. | |
Magnalia Christi Americana; Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England; from Its First Planting in the Year 1620, unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698, in Seven Books. Ed. Thomas Robbins & Samuel G. Drake. Trans. Lucius Franklin Robinson. Hartford [CT], 1853-1855. | |
The second American edition. Vol. 1 printed in 1855; v. 2 in 1853. There were two issues of v. 1 with differing printing dates. | |
Magnalia Christi Americana; Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England; from Its First Planting, in the Year 1620, unto the Year of Our Lord 1698. In Seven Books. Temecula, CA: Reprint Services, 1999. | |
An on-demand facsimile of the 1853 edition. | |
Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion. Or the Character and Happiness of a Virtuous Woman: in a Discourse which Directs the Female Sex How to Express the Fear of God in Every Age and State of Their Life; and Obtain Both Temporal and Eternal Blessedness. 3rd ed. Boston, 1741. | |
Originally printed: Cambridge [MA], 1692. | |
Rules for the Society of Negroes, 1693. Ed. George Henry Moore. New York, 1888. | |
Preface signed: George H. Moore, Lenox Library, July 1888. | |
Originally issued as a broadside with Mather's nine numbered rules in 1706. | |
There may also have been a 1693 edition with eight rules. | |
Selected Letters of Cotton Mather. Ed. Kenneth Silverman. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State U P, 1971. | |
Indispensible for the study of Cotton Mather. | |
"The surviving letters represent the largest extant correspondence of any American Puritan figure. This selection is the product of a search which covered fifteen states and twenty-one different countries and located 569 of Mather's letters" —Introduction | |
The letters are from c. 1678 to 1727 and are on a great variety of topics. About four-fifths of Mather's extant letters were included. | |
Selections from Cotton Mather. Ed. Kenneth Ballard Murdock. Hafner Library of Classics 20. New York: Hafner, 1973. | |
Includes selections from Magnalia Christi Americana, The Christian Philosopher, Political Fables, and also includes "A Letter to Dr. Woodward". | |
The Threefold Paradise of Cotton Mather : an Edition of 'Triparadisus'. Ed. Reiner Smolinski. Athens [GA]: U of Georgia P, 1995. | |
The first printed edition; extensive introductory material and bibliographical references. | |
Written near the end of Mather's life, it provides insight into Mather's later years. | |
It also challenges widely held beliefs within the study of American Puritanism. | |
A Token for Children, Being an Exact Account of the Conversion, Holy and Exemplary Lives, and Joyful Deaths of Several Young Children. By James Janeway. To Which is Added, A Token for the Children of New-England, or, Some Examples of Children, in Whom the Fear of God was Remarkably Budding before They Died; in Several Parts of New-England. Boston, 1771. | |
Mather's A Token for the Children of New-England was originally published in 1700 and was included in the London, 1702, edition of the Magnalia Christi Americana. | |
The Widow of Naim. Remarks on the Illustrious Miracle Wrought by Our Almighty Redeemer, on the Behalf of a Desolate Widow. Boston, 1728. | |
"To the reader" signed: J[oshua] Gee. Feb. 23. 1727,8. | |
Letter "To Mrs. Dorothy Frizzel" signed and dated: Cotton Mather, Oct. 17. 1724. | |
A sermon first delivered in manuscript to Mrs. Frizzel to comfort her upon the death of her son. Later published with the Rev. Gee's assistance after Mather's death. | |
The Witchcraft Delusion in New England: Its Rise, Progress, and Termination, as Exhibited by Dr. Cotton Mather, in "The Wonders of the Invisible World"; and by Mr. Robert Calef, in His "More Wonders of the Invisible World". Ed. Samuel G. Drake. Woodward's Historical Series 5-7. Roxbury, Mass., 1866. | |
Mather's The Wonders of the Invisible World and Drake's introductory and biographical material are found in vol. 1. | |
The Wonders of the Invisible World. Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New England. To Which is Added a Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches by Increase Mather. Library of Old Authors. London, 1862. | |
With an engraved frontispiece portrait of Cotton Mather. |
Works About Cotton Mather
Bibliographies |
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Holmes, Thomas James. Cotton Mather: a Bibliography of His Works. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1940. | |
The classic descriptive bibliography of the works of Cotton Mather identifies 468 separate items with numerous excerpts from scarce works by Mather and hundreds of facsimile title-pages. | |
Jones, Matt Bushnell. Some Bibliographical Notes on Cotton Mather's "The Accomplished Singer'. Boston, 1933. | |
Originally published in the Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts volume XXVIII, this article offers an account of the history of Mather's pamphlet entitled The accomplished singer. | |
Kittredge, George Lyman. "Cotton Mather's Scientific Communications to the Royal Society". Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, n.s., 26 (1916): 18-57. | |
A list of Mather's letters to the Royal Society regarding scientific matters. Includes dates and content notes for each letter. | |
Tuttle, Julius Herbert. "The Libraries of the Mathers". Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, n.s., 20 (1910): 269-356. | |
The only published account of the materials contained in the Mather family library, with separate lists of those books held at the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and at other institutions. | |
An extensive introductory essay explores the provenance and dispersal of the Mather library. | |
Although the most complete list available, the bibliography is notable for lacking more than 500 titles from the Mather collection held at the American Antiquarian Society. | |
Biographies |
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Boas, Ralph Philip, and Louise Schutz Boaz. Cotton Mather: Keeper of the Puritan Conscience. New York and London: Harper, 1928. | |
A biography of Mather intended for general audiences. It lacks a bibliography and index. | |
Drake, Samuel G. Pedigree of the Family of Mather. The History of King Philip's War by Increase Mather. Boston, 1862. | |
A genealogical chart of the Mather family. | |
Drake's Introduction includes a brief commentary on Cotton Mather, the Mather library and the perilous times. | |
[] click image to view full family tree [PDF] |
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Kennedy, Rick. The First American Evangelical: A Short Life of Cotton Mather. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015. | |
available for pre-order from Eerdman's, expected July 2015 | |
Levin, David. Cotton Mather: the Young Life of the Lord's Remembrancer, 1663-1703. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1978. | |
A reinterpretation of Cotton Mather's published works and involvement in major events, this biography follows Mather's development as an intellectual and public figure. Focused on his early and middle years, this biography does not cover the last twenty-five years of Mather's life. | |
Levy, Babette May. Cotton Mather. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979. | |
A relatively brief biography that focuses on the major points of interest in Mather's life. | |
Also includes an annotated selected bibliography of primary and secondary sources. | |
Marvin, Abijah P. The Life and Times of Cotton Mather, D.D., F.R.S., or, A Boston Minister of Two Centuries Ago, 1663-1728. Boston: Congregational Sunday-school and Publishing Society, 1892. | |
Written by a sympathetic Congregational minister, this biography offers a defense of Mather against his critics. | |
Digital copy available in the HathiTrust Digital Library. | |
Mather, Samuel. The Life of the Very Reverend and Learned Cotton Mather, D.D. & F.R.S. Late Pastor of the North Church in Boston. Who died, Feb. 13. 1727, 8. Boston, 1729. | |
Written by Cotton Mather's son, this biography relies on the author's personal memories and material taken from Cotton Mather's writings to tell his life story. The bibliography of Mather's work offers an early attempt to collect a comprehensive list of his works. | |
---. An Abridgment of the Life of the Late Reverend and Learned Dr. Cotton Mather, of Boston in New-England : Taken from the Account of Him Published by His Son, the Reverend Mr. Samuel Mathe : Proposed As a Pattern to All Christians, Who Desire to Excel in Holiness and Usefulness, and Especially to Younger Ministers. Ed. David Jennings. London, 1744. | |
---. The Life of the Late Rev. and Learned Dr. Cotton Mather, of Boston, New England. Ed. David Jennings. Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1827. | |
---. The Life of the Late Rev. and Learned Dr. Cotton Mather, of Boston, New England. Ed. David Jennings. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1828. | |
Middlekauff, Robert. The Mathers: Three Generations of Puritan Intellectuals, 1596-1728. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971. | |
A study of the impact that Richard, Increase, and Cotton Mather had on the intellectual history of American Puritanism. | |
Pond, Enoch. The Mather Family. Boston: Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, 1844. | |
Common to 19th century biographies of Cotton Mather, this work offers a rebuttal to the frequently made accusations against Mather and celebrates his legacy. | |
It also includes biographical information on Richard, Samuel, Nathaniel, Eleazer, Increase, and other members of the Mather family. | |
Digital copy available in the HathiTrust Digital Library. | |
Quint, Alonzo H. "Cotton Mather". Congregational Quarterly. 1.3 (1859): [233]-264. | |
A sketch of Cotton Mather's life and character that offers an unwaveringly complimentary assessment of Mather's character and work. | |
Digital copy on Internet Archive. | |
Robbins, Chandler. A History of the Second Church, or Old North, in Boston : to which Is Added, a History of the New Brick Church. Boston, 1852. | |
A history of the church at which Mather ministered, this work offers insights into Mather's ministry, sourced from the records of the church. | |
Digital copy on Internet Archive. | |
Sibley, John Landgon. "Cotton Mather". Sibley's Harvard Graduates : Biographical Sketches of Those Who Attended Harvard College ... with Bibliographical and Other Notes. Vol. 3. By John Langdon Sibley, 6-158. Cambridge, MA: Charles William Sever, 1885. | |
A relatively brief, but thorough biography of Mather's life that focuses on his achievements. | |
The work also includes one of the more complete bibliographies of Mather's publications. | |
Silverman, Kenneth. The Life and Times of Cotton Mather. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. | |
The most complete modern biography of Cotton Mather. The author presents a cohesive picture of Mather's multifaceted life as a minister, intellectual, and public figure. | |
Wendell, Barrett. Cotton Mather, the Puritan Priest. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1891. | |
A comprehensive biography largely sourced from Mather's own writings. | |
---. Cotton Mather, the Puritan Priest. 1891. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1921. | |
---. Cotton Mather, the Puritan Priest. 1891. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926. | |
---. Cotton Mather: the Puritan Priest. 1891. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963. | |
Reprint of 1891 edition with new introduction by Alan Heimert. |
Funeral Sermons Occasioned by the Death of Cotton Mather
Criticism and Interpretation
Albree, John. "Mather and the Quakers". Boston Herald, 2 Sept. 1921. | |
Albree refutes plots attributed to Cotton Mather for enslaving William Penn and other Quakers. | |
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Allen, Francis W. "The Pelham Mather". Bulletin of the American Congregational Association. 1.2 (1950) : 16-17. | |
A brief history of Peter Pelham's 1727 mezzotint portrait of Cotton Mather. | |
Beall, Otho T., Jr. "Cotton Mather's Early 'Curiosa Americana' and the Boston Philosophical Society of 1683". The William and Mary Quarterly. 3d ser., 18.3 (1961): 360-372. | |
An attempt to reconstruct the interests of the short-lived Boston Philosophical Society through an analysis of the 'Curiosa Americana' letters that Cotton Mather sent to the Royal Society of London. | |
Cotton Mather was a member of the Boston Philosophical Society, as well as a member of the Royal Society of London. | |
The author also analyses Cotton Mather's changing attitude towards interpreting natural phenomena. | |
Bernard, Virginia. "Cotton Mather and the Doing of Good: A Puritan Gospel of Wealth". The New England Quarterly. 49.2 (1976): 225-241. | |
The author posits that Cotton Mather's Bonifacius helped to inspire the American ideal of social mobility, instead of preserving social order as Mather had intended. | |
Bishop, George. New-England Judged, by the Spirit of the Lord. In Two Parts. First, Containing a Brief Relation of the Sufferings of the People Call'd Quakers in New England, from the Time of Their First Arrival There, in the Year 1656, to the Year 1660 ... In Answer to the Declaration of Their Persecutors Apologizing for the Same, MDCLIX. Second Part, Being a Farther Relation of the Cruel and Bloody Sufferings of the People Call'd Quakers in New-England, Continued from Anno 1660, to Anno 1665. Beginning with the Sufferings of William Leddra, Whom They Put to Death. London, 1703. | |
This work includes a reprinting of Truth and Innocency Defended; Against Falshood and Envy; and the Martyrs of Jesus, and Sufferers for His Sake, Vindicated. In Answer to Cotton Mather (A Priest of Boston) His Calumnies, Lyes and Abuses of the People called Quakers, in His Late Church-History of New-England. With Remarks and Observations on Several Passages in the Same, and His Confessions to the Just Judgments of God on Them by John Whiting, originally published in London, 1702. | |
Digital copy on Internet Archive. | |
Breitwieser, Mitchell Robert. Cotton Mather and Benjamin Franklin: the Price of Representative Personality. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984. | |
A scholarly comparison of the works of Mather and Franklin that proposes that each man offered opposite perspectives on the ideal self. | |
Calef, Robert. More Wonders of the Invisible World, or, The Wonders of the Invisible World Displayed : in Five Parts : to Which Is Added a Postscript Relating to a Book Entitled, The life of Sir William Phips. Salem, 1796. | |
The postscript provides Calef's critique of Cotton Mather's Pietas in Patriam: the Life of Sir William Phips. | |
Calef, Robert and Cotton Mather. More Wonders of the Invisible World, or, The Wonders of the Invisible World Displayed : in Five Parts : to Which Is Added a Postscript Relating to a Book Entitled, The Life of Sir William Phips. Salem, 1823. | |
A reply to Cotton Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World. The postscript discusses Mather's anonymously published Pietas in Patriam: the Life of Sir William Phips. | |
Re-printed by John D. and T.C. Cushing, Jr., for Cushing and Appleton. | |
Calef, Robert and Cotton Mather. Salem Witchcraft : Comprising More Wonders of the Invisible World, Collected by Robert Calef; and Wonders of the Invisible World, by Cotton Mather. Boston: W. Veazie, 1865 | |
The editor provides brief explanatory notes to accompany the works of Calef and Mather. | |
Copeland, Mary. "Hannah Mather Crocker and Cotton Mather: Voices for Women's Education, 100 Years and Two Generations Apart". Bulletin of the Congregational Library and Archives. 10.1 (2013). | |
The author explores Cotton Mather's interest and motivations for educating his daughters and compares these to his granddaughter, Hanna Mather Crocker, who advocated for women's education. | |
Dillman, Jefferson. "Defending the 'New England Way': Cotton Mather's 'Exact Mapp of New England and new York'". Historical Journal of Massachusetts. 38.1 (2010): 111-131. | |
The author details how the map of New England included in Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana aligns with the arguments that Mather makes for the superiority of Anglo-American Puritanism. | |
Erwin, John S. (John Stuart). The Millennialism of Cotton Mather : an Historical and Theological Analysis. Lewiston, [N.Y.]: E. Mellen Press, 1990. | |
This work looks at how Cotton Mather's belief in Milliennialism shaped his interpretation of events during his lifetime. The book also includes a bibliographical essay that charts the changing opinion regarding Cotton Mather over time. | |
Francke, Kuno. "The Beginning of Cotton Mather's Correspondence with August Hermann Francke". Philological Quarterly. 3 (1926) : 193-195. | |
Reprinted from Philological Quarterly, volume V, number 3 (1926), this article explores the interest that Cotton Mather had in the work of German scholar, educator, clergyman, and philanthropist August Hermann Francke. | |
Goddard, Delano A. (Delano Alexander). The Mathers Weighed in the Balances and Found Not Wanting. Boston ; London, 1870. | |
An apologetic that seeks to defend Cotton Mather and his family from the common accusations made against them by nineteenth-century critics. | |
Goulding, James A. The Controversy Between Solomon Stoddard and the Mathers : Western Versus Eastern Massachusetts Congregationalism. Diss. Claremont Graduate School and University Center, 1971. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1971. | |
This dissertation examines Rev. Solomon Stoddard (1643-1729) and his disagreements with the tenants of the Cambridge Platform and the Half-Way Covenant. Increase and Cotton Mather acted as Stoddard's primary opponents on these issues and their views are compared by the author. | |
Gura, Philip F. "Cotton Mather's Life of Phips: 'A Vice with the Vizard of Vertue Upon It'". The New England Quarterly. 50.3 (1977): 440-457. | |
The author argues that Cotton Mather's biography of William Phips redefined the ideal public life in a new American context. | |
Harper, George W. Scholar and Shepherd : Cotton Mather and the Puritan Pastoral Ministry. BS Thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1979. | |
This thesis contrasts the model of ministering that relied solely on scholarship and powerful preaching with Cotton Mather's pastoral model, which also involved community outreach and visitation. | |
Harrer, John A. "A Mather Manuscript in the Congregational Library". Bulletin of the American Congregational Association. 3.2 (1952) : 11-18. | |
An article regarding the manuscript of Directions for a Son Going to the Colledge held at the Congregational Library and Archives. It includes a comment on the Directions from the bibliographer T.J. Holmes and a transcription of the manuscript. | |
Holmes, Thomas James. Cotton Mather and His Writings on Witchcraft. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1926. | |
Cotton Mather's most thorough bibliographer seeks to clarify that Mather produced very little writing about witchcraft and that these works were not considered his primary achievements by his contemporaries. | |
---. The Mather Literature. Cleveland: Privately Printed for William Gwinn Mather, 1927. | |
An introduction to an exhibition of books selected from the William Gwinn Mather Library written by, owned by, and about the prominent members of the Mather family. | |
The William Gwinn Mather Library was later incorporated into The Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History at the University of Virginia. | |
---. The Surreptitious Printing of One of Cotton Mather's Manuscripts. Cambridge [Mass.]: Harvard University Press, 1925. | |
Originally printed in Bibliographical Essays: a Tribute to Wilberforce Eames, this article explores how and why Cotton Mather's writings about the Margaret Rule witchcraft incident were included in Robert Calef's More Wonders of the Invisible World. | |
Kass, Amalie M. “Boston's Historic Smallpox Epidemic.” Massachusetts Historical Review. 14 (2012) : 1-51. | |
A historical recount of the 1721 smallpox epidemic in Boston and the controversy that erupted around inoculations, of which Cotton Mather played a major role. | |
Levin, David. "Giants in the Earth: Science and the Occult in Cotton Mather's Letters to the Royal Society". The William and Mary Quarterly. 3d ser., 45.4 (1988): 751-770. | |
In addition to a transcription of Cotton Mather's first letter to the Royal Society of London, the author uses this letter to examine the role that the occult played in Cotton Mather's comprehension of the world. | |
Lovelace, Richard F. The American Pietism of Cotton Mather : Origins of American Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Christian University Press, 1979. | |
The author proposes that in the personal life and theology of Cotton Mather, Puritanism and Pietism were combined in a unique manner that would influence the trajectory of American religion. | |
The book also includes a bibliographical study of the historical vicissitudes of Cotton Mather's reputation. | |
Mages, Michael J. Magnalia Christi Americana: America's Literary Old Testament. San Francisco, Calif.: International Scholars Publications, 1999. | |
A study of the creation and legacy of Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana. | |
Malmsheimer, Lonna M. "Daughters of Zion: New England Roots of American Feminism". The New England Quarterly. 50.3 (1977): 484-504. | |
Cotton Mather's writings on women are identified as an early example in the development of feminist thinking in America. | |
Minardi, Margot. "The Boston Inoculation Controversy of 1721-1722: An Incident in the History of Race". The William and Mary Quarterly. 3d ser., 61.1 (2004): 47-76. | |
The history of race in early eighteenth-century Anglo-America is examined through the lens of Cotton Mather's writings about small pox. | |
Minkema, Kenneth P. "Reforming Harvard: Cotton Mather on Education at Cambridge". The New England Quarterly. 87.2 (2014): 319-340. | |
Through a reexamination of historical documents, the author unveils what reforms Cotton Mather would have implemented had he been chosen as the president of Harvard University. | |
Also included is a transcription of Mather's "Important Points, Relating to the Education at Harvard-Colledge; Needful to be Enquired Into, Præpared and Humbly Offered, by Some Who Have Newly Pass'd Thro' the First Four Years of Their Being There", along with two other related documents. | |
Palmer, John. The Present State of New England Impartially Considered, in a Letter to the Clergy. Boston, 1689. | |
Written by John Palmer, a member of the Council of Governor Andros, as a vindication of the deposed government and in reply to Cotton Mather's "The Declaration, of the Gentlemen, Merchants, and Inhabitants of Boston, and Countrey Adjacent. April 18th. 1689." | |
The text of a subsequent London edition differs substantially. | |
Poole, William Frederick. The Mather Papers : Cotton Mather and Salem Witchcraft. Boston, 1868. | |
A defense of Cotton Mather against the claims raised by Charles W. Upham in his 1867 work Salem Witchcraft : with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. | |
---. Cotton Mather and Salem Witchcraft. Boston: [University Press], 1869. | |
Digital copy in Hathi Trust Digital Library. | |
---. Cotton Mather & Witchcraft: Two Notices of Mr. Upham, His Reply. Boston: T.R. Marvin & Son, 1870. | |
Richter, Daniel K. "'It Is God Who Has Caused Them to be Servants': Cotton Mather and Afro-American Slavery in New England". Bulletin of the Congregational Library. 30.3 (1979): 4-14. | |
The author looks to Cotton Mather's writings on slavery to provide an assessment of the responses to slavery in early eighteenth century New England. | |
Robinson, George W. Errata in Cotton Mather's Magnalia. Cambridge, Mass.: Privately printed, 1943. | |
Smith, Peter H. "Politics and Sainthood: Biography by Cotton Mather". The William and Mary Quarterly. 3d ser., 20.2 (1963): 186-206. | |
An examination of the influence that political concerns had on the content and style of Cotton Mather's biographical writing. | |
Smolinski, Reiner and Jan Stievermann, eds. Cotton Mather and Biblia Americana – America's First Bible Commentary : Essays in Reappraisal. [Tubingen, Germany]: Mohr Siebeck, 2011. | |
A collection of essays that reexamine Cotton Mather as an intellectual and his biblical commentary entitled Biblia Americana. The essays cover a range to topics, including Mather's explorations of theological, philosophical, and scientific matters; his relationships with international scholars; and Mather's considerations of gender, race, and slavery within the Biblia Americana. | |
Upham, Charles W. Salem Witchcraft: with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred subjects. Boston: Wiggins and Lunt, 1867. | |
A history of the Salem witch trials that focuses much of the blame on Cotton Mather. | |
Werking, Richard H. "'Reformation Is Our Only Preservation': Cotton Mather and Salem Witchcraft". The William and Mary Quarterly. 3d ser., 29.2 (1972): 281-290. | |
An assessment of Cotton Mather's interest and involvement in the Salem Witch trials. | |
Williams, Tony. The Pox and the Covenant : Mather, Franklin, and the Epidemic That Changed America's Destiny. Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks, 2010. | |
An investigation of the smallpox epidemic that struck Boston in 1721 and the subsequent debate between Mather, other ministers, physicians, and newspaper editors over the practice of inoculation. The author points to Mather's championing of wide-spread inoculation as evidence of his position as an early Enlightenment thinker in the American colonies. | |
Winship, Michael P. "Prodigies, Puritanism, and the Perils of Natural Philosophy: The Example of Cotton Mather". The William and Mary Quarterly. 3d ser., 51.1 (1994): 92-105. | |
By following the evolution of Cotton Mather's interpretation of "prodigies" or natural oddities, the author evaluates Mather’s understanding and acceptance of scientific thought. |
Fictional Portrayals
Mantlo, Bill writer. A Witch in Time!. Art by Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito, Letters by Karen Mantlo, Color by Ellen Vartanoff. New York: Marvel Comics, 1976. Print. Vol. 1, issues 41-45 (Jan.-May 1976) of Marvel Team-Up. | |
A villainous, witch-hunting Cotton Mather battles Spider-Man in colonial Salem, Massachusetts in this fictional retelling of the incidents surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. | |
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Spurious and Doubtful
"Plot to sell William Penn". Post 17 Sept. 1917 | |
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The Mother's Manual, Containing Practical Hints, by a Mother. Cotton Mather's Resolutions of a Parent, Notices of Maternal Associations, &c. Together with Introductory Remarks; and an Appendix. Dedicated to Christian Mothers. Boston, 1840. | |
Bibliographer T.J. Holmes disputes the claim that Cotton Mather was the author of the Resolutions. Cf. T.J. Holmes, Cotton Mather, 112-R. |
Books from the Library of Cotton Mather
Owen, John. A Discourse of the Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer. With a Brief Enquiry into the Nature and Use of Mental Prayer and Forms. London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, 1682. | |
Ownership inscription of Cotton Mather, dated 1683, on title page. |
Other Collections and Repositories
The Mather Project. Georgia State University. 2 April 2014. | |
An outgrowth of an ongoing effort to publish Cotton Mather's holograph manuscript Biblia Americana (1693-1728), a huge commentary on the Bible, currently edited by an international team of scholars, and collaboratively published in 10 volumes by Mohr Siebeck (Germany) and Baker Academic (USA) intended to provide access to the unpublished and select number of published family papers of Richard Mather (1596-1669), Increase Mather (1639-1723), and Cotton Mather (1663-1728). | |
The Cotton Mather Home Page | |
A collection of links to websites containing transcriptions of some of Cotton Mather's texts, as well as writings about Cotton Mather and related historical material. | |
Cotton Mather papers, 1636-1724. Massachusetts Historical Society. | |
Increase Mather papers, 1659-1721. Massachusetts Historical Society | |
Second Church (Boston, Mass.) Records, 1650-1970. Massachusetts Historical Society. | |
Includes material dating from 1685-1728, when Cotton Mather served as a minister. | |
Kenneth Silverman Research Materials on Cotton Mather, 1661-ca. 1841. Massachusetts Historical Society. | |
Research materials on Cotton Mather gathered by Kenneth Silverman for his 1984 book The Life and Times of Cotton Mather. | |
Includes copies of original documents in various repositories, notes, copies of secondary materials, and microfilm. | |
Mather family papers, 1613-1819 [PDF]. American Antiquarian Society. | |
Mather family library. American Antiquarian Society. | |
A collection of more than 1,500 printed books that once belonged to Richard, Increase, Cotton, and Samuel Mather, their families, colleagues, and correspondents. | |
The collection is the largest extant portion of the Mather family library, most of which was acquired from Hannah Mather Crocker (Cotton's granddaughter) in 1814. | |
Mather family collection. American Antiquarian Society. | |
Mather family collection, 1645-1722. Huntington Library (San Marino, CA). | |
Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728, papers. Houghton Library, Harvard University. | |
Papers of the Mather family, 1683-1784. University of Virginia. | |
The Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. University of Virginia. | |
The library's holdings include a collection of the Mather family, particularly of Increase and Cotton Mather, including the manuscript of the latter's diary. | |
The Mather collection was originally gathered by William Gwinn Mather and is one of the three Mather collections in existence. | |
Mather papers/manuscripts. Boston Public Library. | |
The Boston Public Library holds manuscripts and rare publications by Cotton Mather. | |
Smolinski, Reiner. "Cotton Mather". in Oxford Bibliographies Online: American Literature. 28-Aug-2014. | |
Written by a leading contemporary Mather scholar, this bibliography provides a thorough survey of books and articles of scholarly criticism about Mather, along with readily available works written by Mather. Arraigned thematically, an introductory paragraph begins each grouping by providing details on the historical development of Mather studies. Each entry includes an annotation. | |
Available online by subscription. |